>I have heard but not yet tried it, that you can restore teak (decks at least) with a solution of water, joy, and ammonia. You can't really restore teak decks in the sense that you get them back to the way they were when new. You can get them back to looking like new, but every method of doing this involves removing some of the wood. The chemical teak "restorers" do their job by chemically removing the top layers of cells in the wood. So the end result is the same as sanding-- wood goes away. Oiling teak decks looks nice (at first) but it's a disaster in the making. As Bob Lowe pointed out, some kinds of oils can attack some kinds of seam sealants, which will result in a truly amazing mess. Also, the oil will hold dirt. You may think, so what, the decks are getting dirty all the time anyway. True enough, but the difference is when the teak is "plain," the dirt washes off. When the teak is oiled, the dirt doesn't wash off. Eventually what happens is your shoes become sanding blocks as you walk around on the deck grinding this dirt into the wood. Your decks won't go away overnight, of course, but every bit of wood that goes away never comes back. The problem is compounded by the fact that teak (actually all wood, I guess) is composed of softer and harder sections. The softer wood will wear away much faster then the harder wood. This is why you should never scrub teak decking with the grain. Always go across the grain. A brush will scoop out minute portions of the softer wood if you scrub with the grain. This creates an almost microscopic valley. Over time, with cleaning, weathering, and just plain wear, these valleys will slowly grow deeper and wider as the soft wood continues to wear away faster than the surrounding harder wood. Eventually they become visible, and they'll continue to grow. Most of you have probably seen weathered teak that is furrowed with irregular grooves, some of them quite deep. This is not the wood splitting, but is what it looks like when soft wood erosion becomes extreme. Yes, you can sand the furrows out, but doing so will remove a fair amount of wood from the whole deck and so you're that much closer to footing the bill for a replacement. The proper care and feeding of a teak deck is described in many places. What I've learned from talking to shipwrights and reading a few of the better books and articles on the subject is that the best thing you can do for a teak deck is wash it periodically in salt water and Lemon Joy. Everyone mentions Joy because it suds up nicely in cold saltwater. I guess not too many soaps will. One of the best things to use for washing the deck is a plain old cotton mop. The "string" kind your school janitor used to use. The mop washing removes the dirt but is very easy on the wood. For a more thorough cleaning of the deck, to remove stains or bird "stuff," or stubborn dirt, use the same saltwater-Lemon Joy mixture, but scrub the deck LIGHTLY with a doodlebug. Doodlebugs are easier on the wood than a brush. Make sure you go across the grain. The doodlebug will remove ground-in dirt and will also remove some of the top layer of wood cells. So if your decks have gone silver-gray like they're supposed to, the doodlebug will bring back a hint of the color, but it won't last long. DO NOT think the doodlebug is a way to get nice, teak-colored decks back again. You can do it if your scrub hard enough, but you'll be getting that color the same way as you would with sandpaper or chemicals-- you'll be removing the top surface of the wood.. All this may make it sound like teak is the worst deck material on the planet, but in fact it's one of the best. It's easy on the feet and it doesn't get slippery when wet. And taking care of it is actually very easy. As long as it properly cared for, a good teak deck will last for decades. Our 30-year old boat has its original deck, a deck that for its first 25 years sat baking in the California sun. And it's been subjected to multiple sandings by previous owners. By the time we got it, most of the seam sealant had failed, and half the plugs were missing. There are some soft-wood erosion valleys here and there, but the wood still has a lot of life left in it. We had the seams recut and re-sealed and we've just about caught up with all the missing plugs. No, it doesn't look nearly as nice as a brand new deck. But it looks pretty darn good, and as long as I keep washing it every so often it should last for a long, long time. So if you have a teak deck, don't oil it, don't varnish it, don't Cetol it, and for God's sake, NEVER powerwash it. Wash it with clean saltwater and Joy every now and then, and it will be happy. ______________________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington